Lincoln City ~ Day 3 ~ Family Photos

It is so rare that we see our extended family that I wanted to take the opportunity to take some family photos.



There were 6 kids in my Mom's family. My Aunt Linda, who passed away 5 years ago this September, was the youngest.  My Uncle Butch (George) is the oldest.  My mom was 4th.  Uncle Butch looks JUST like my grandfather.  Really, the resemblance at this age is startling.  His only child is Dennis, pictured on the right and his "significant other" (of approximately 25 years...I'm guessing) is Marcia.  We consider her family.

My Uncle was the volunteer of the year for OroValley, AZ last year.  He has volunteered for the police force for years.



Uncle Buch and Marcia (pronounced Marsha).



The Royer family.  My Grandfather's side of the family is French, (from Callais, France).  My Mom is 1/2 French and my Grandfather is responsible for the nose that you see repeated in this photo.  We call it the "Royer nose."  Apparently it's a dominant gene.  It's even more prominent in profile. :)



I love this photo of my Mom. She looks so happy...she really loves her brother and is so happy when they are together.



A great photo of Mom and Mike.



Mike's family.  We were trying to get through these quickly (the children were not excited about this exercise at all and it was COLD) and so sadly, I didn't notice that Michelle was positioned funny in the photo until after we were inside and looking at them on the camera.













I love this photo of Mom and the grandkids.  I had to do some photoediting to get it though because what I didn't notice until later was that one of the Grandkids had to go to the bathroom.  And you could tell in EVERY photo....



Exhibit A of why I could never be a professional phototrapher.

And Kaitlin insisted on holding her imaginary baby.



I love this photo of Mike and Michelle.



At this point, as evidenced by my hair, it had started raining.



So while I'm not crazy about how I look in them, they are still nice to have.



Can you tell that Andrew is all done with pictures?



Sweet Matthew was game for one more.



I didn't get a good family photo as it was raining and by that point the kids were toast.  But it wasn't a problem as we went back and did professional photos at the beginning of this month which turned out great.

I actually have more photos that I wanted to post from this day of our relaxing afternoon and some beach fun.  But they'll have to wait for the next post.

Lincoln City ~ Day 3, Part 2

After Family photos we enjoyed a relaxing day.  Noah and Andrew played a game of chess....





And of course the puzzle was a continual draw.  From morning until night, if we were at the house someone (usually 2-3) was always sitting at the puzzle table.  It was so relaxing and more than a little addicting.



I think Marcia logged the most hours at the table.   It was truly the longest stretch of real leisure that Dan and I have had since before having kids and I confess, it was hard to transition back to "real" life.  It was SO nice!



The kids worked really hard on digging a fire pit. 





Michelle and I were outside so that Matthew and Aiden could enjoy playing in the water.



I have a great sister in law.





Mom told the kids that they could do S'mores if they prepped a pit.  So they got it done and she delivered.  Despite the strong wind, they stayed the course!







Just a wonderful, relaxing, day at the beach!  Such a special, special treat.

Lincoln City ~ Day 2

I didn't take a lot of pictures (by my standards) at the beach this time.  There were a few days that I took quite a few, but when we were at the house I just spent a lot of time in the moment, enjoying the day.

Dan picked up the camera and snapped this one of me while I was reading one afternoon during "cocktail hour" which ended up being at around 5pm daily.  I was sipping a Lemon drop, reading a book, and enjoying the view and the sunshine.  A little piece of heaven.  It makes me think about how I need to carve out more moments like that.  It is so good for the soul & restorative.



We decided it might be fun to do a late celebration of Mom's birthday at the beach since we'd all be together.  So we had a steak dinner, and I made strawberry shortcake for dessert.  Simple, but fun.  The children ate at another table/kitchen bar nearby so they aren't in the photo.  I think we all loved the dinner arrangements!

Sunglasses were necessary at the table from the sun setting on that side of the house.  No complaints, we'll take sunshine any way we can get it!



We ate very well on our vacation, considering each meal was for 16 people.  We rotated responsibility for dinner so that no one was overly burdened and it worked great.  We have some good cooks in our family and dinner was something to look forward to.  Dan gained 12 lbs on our trip!  (And has since lost it).



Happy Birthday, Mom!!



Nana and her grand kids + Grand niece and nephew.  Noah was happy, he is just going through a bit of a phase with the camera after a not so great experience with school pictures.  It's so unfortunate as he has such a great smile and he was so joyful this trip.  This isn't representative at all of how he was on vacation.



Mom said one of her favorite parts of our trip was her birthday gift, which sadly, I can't share as we are giving Winnie the same thing for her birthday and she reads my blog!  :)  Don't want to ruin the surprise!

I have some great shots of Mom's expression opening the gift.  And would you believe those are all the photos I took on this day?  I think that's a beach non-picture taking record for me!  It was really nice just to soak in my time and relax.  A really great start to the week.

Real Time Check in

 I am so woefully behind on my blog.  I'm working on Kaitlin's birthday posts right now, but they take a while...I think that qualifies as a "restful" sabbath activity.  It definitely feels like a luxury these days, so I'm hoping to have a bit of time on Sunday to work on that.

I snapped the above photo before church one day when the kids were looking so cute.  Kaitlin insisted on the gloves.  :)  She has grown like crazy as that dress was quite large on her not very long ago.  They have all just sprouted recently.  I can't believe how big they are getting.

Last week the OT and I noticed some very significant differences in Andrew's motor skills.  I have a video and photo to post when I have time to download them.  But I'm SO happy with the changes that we are starting to see.  We still have a ways to go, but this last week was the first time I really thought, "Wow!  We could eventually get discharged!"  (What a relief that will be on many levels!) Not that I didn't think it would happen, but changes before were so slow before that this feels quite remarkable and made me feel very optimistic!  We've completed 18 hours of listening therapy with a potential of 42 more hours of sensory motor and 40 hours of attention/focus modules.   I am so pleased with what we're seeing and am excited to see where we are at the end of treatment.  It feels so good to feel like time, energy and resources are being well spent and bearing fruit.  What a journey this has been.

The Sabbath observance is going well.  I am really actually enjoying it!  Though I am on the move from sun up to sun down trying to fit in all that I need to during the week.  But it is worth it and so enjoyable for the whole family.  I think this is something that we will commit to trying to maintain even after lent.  While I knew these things in theory before, I'm realizing on a different level that there will always be things that need to be done.  I will never be "caught up".  As soon as I cross something off the list, something else will just be added.  So it really just needs to be a discipline for me to designate a day of rest.  As we are doing this, I'm starting to see how really important that is and how beneficial it is to our well-being.  I do feel less prepared for the week on Monday, but so far, I am able to get caught up.

Here are some photos of my first Sabbath observance.

Michelle and I went to brunch and to the Ballet!  We went to see Swan Lake.  And it was beautiful.  Though neither of us realized it was a tragedy!  I do prefer a happy ending....but it was stunning nonetheless.

We went to a restaurant in the Pearl District called Brix for brunch...

Upon being seated, they serve these delicious warm doughnuts.  That pretty much sold me on the place right there.

I always love my time with Michelle.  We enjoyed a leisurely brunch, chatting away and then headed to the Ballet.  It was a wonderful day!  I came home and enjoyed a game of Scrabble with Matthew while Dan played a game with Andrew and Kaitlin.  It was really nice.

Another random story.

One night I got home and in the shadow of the night I saw the outline of a mouse in our driveway.  There was a period of time when we caught 15 mice in our garage so with dread I crept quietly toward it.  I got closer and it didn't move.  I took another step and it didn't move.  Until finally I realized it was a plastic mouse!

This was many months ago.  Since then, the mouse has become an unspoken game.  It randomly shows up places.  One night I came home late and nearly jumped out of my skin as I passed by the garage refrigerator and it was peeking out on top of the refrigerator door!  Then, when I went to pick up Michelle it happened to be in Dan's car.  So I snapped a photo so I'd remember to record the story.

This is the kind of stuff that goes on in our house.

Have a good weekend!

Kaitlin's Tea Party

Because the boys aren't that interested in tea parties, the men took the boys and the nephews to Big Al's for some bowling.  Dan posed for a quick photo on his way out the door.

 

And one with Grammie and Grandpa!



Nana too!

One of the fun things about this party was Kaitlin's excitement over it.  She loved all the details and decorations.  This was her expression when she saw the table the morning of her party.  My camera was acting up and the flash didn't go off, so the photo didn't turn out but I loved her expression.



The activities that we did at the party were all things that Kaitlin loves to do, or things she requested. 
As the girls arrived they worked on coloring pages (probably the number one way Kaitlin spends her time.  She LOVES to color).



While they were doing this we played Kaitlin's video from the first year of her life...per her request. We showed it at her first birthday.  It was actually fun to look back and remember her so small...and we hadn't yet met most of our friends who were attending the party so it was fun to share as well.



The girls then gathered around and dressed up, choosing from boas, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, crowns & hats.



SO happy!!  She had been counting the days to her party and was SO excited for her spcial day.



Cutie pie!



Sweet little girls.  :)



After the girls were dressed up, it was time for the tea party! The girls sat so nicely around the table.  I am still not really used to little "girl" parties.  The energy level is remarkably different from those of our boys!  :)



I served "tea"  (warm strawberry milk topped with whipped cream and sprinkles)....



While the other Moms helped serve treats from the dessert table.  There was no healthy food.  It was all about the sweets.




The teacups were all eclectic...My grandmother's mismatched collection....



And some of my Aunt Linda's pattern worked in.  We used her china for Kaitlin's first birthday brunch, so these pieces are making memories!



I have found if you save things "for good" or for company you never use them.

Kaitlin sipping "tea" from her great-Grandmother's tea cup...

 

 

Kitti loves marshmallows.  I see two straws in her hands and one on the table next to her.  She clearly had more than her share that day!



The chocolate covered strawberries were a hit and most of the girls' faces were covered in chocolate.  This was the "healthy" portion of the tea. :)



Kaitlin loves Gracie's big sisters and asked if Hannah could sit next to her because she taught them ballet at her last party.  She's a pretty neat "big girl."



Little Claire has always looked like an angel to me with her white curls, big blue eyes and sweet cheeks.  She has the best cheeks.



Lovely Audrey has 3 fun brothers and so a dainty tea party is a change of pace for her!  She seemed to enjoy herself.



Kennedy sipping her "tea."  Kennedy is one of our carpool kids to pre-school so she and Kaitlin get to see one another frequently.  They have had many pretend tea parties in their time together so it was special for them to share a fancy one!

 

And of course we couldn't have a party without Gracie Lu as she's known in our house. Uncle Dan took the liberty of re-naming her that and it just seems to fit.  :)  She shed her preferred sweats and simple t shirts for a fancy dress just for Kaitlin's party.  She was so cute and so proud of her outfit.  She's beautiful no matter what she wears.



I wanted a photo of the moms because these are definitely my closest friends here locally.  A really wonderful group of ladies.

And then, in case the kids hadn't eaten enough sugar...it was time for cake!



My camera wasn't working during the candles and so we ended up doing it twice. :) 

Then it was time for gifts...

 

Love this one.  Such sweet friends.  Notice Gracie is already missing teeth?

The little girls were so cute.  They were so excited about their cards, and the gifts that they were giving.  



Love Claire's fluffy dress. :)



Cheese!



Kennedy was excited about the Tangled doll she gave Kaitlin and wanted to share about it.



Grace was so cute about her gift as well ~ She gave Kaitlin a barbie and an outfit.  (Amy, if you're reading this...Kaitlin brought Barbie on a walk and ran into Fitz & Laurel.  She showed them her new doll and they remarked that it looked like Barbie needed to come to church!  I thought that was so funny). :)



Grace all smiles,  posing with her fan and card for Kaitlin.



My little lady.  Getting so big.



Every time we go to Win-Co or Walmart Kitti asks if she can have a pinata for her birthday.  While they have cuter ones at other places, we snagged this one inexpensively in the Win-Co aisle.  She was thrilled.

Truth be told, I'm not a pinata fan.  I'm not big on the kids wielding a bat while other little ones are standing anxiously by ready to pounce for candy.  I'm always worried someone is going to jump too early and get hurt (notice we opted for pulling the string).  Though the boys love hitting them with the bat.  Not to mention scenes like this always stressed me out as a child...




Though they might have missed the party,  Matthew and Andrew had a fun time destroying the pinata after the party was over.  (Matthew just asked me to record that detail).

After the party was over we took a few more photos.  Kaitlin wanted a silly one with Aunt Michelle.  She was happy to oblige.



And a sweet one too....

 

I actually think Kaitlin looks like she could belong to Michelle in this photo.

One with Nana....



And a sweet one with Grammie!



And with Mama too!



I do so love my girl.



You can definitely see her spirit in this photo.  That's my girl.  She's going to be a strong woman some day.  I can definitely see her growing up to embody the term a "Steel Magnolia"....a feminine lady on the outside but with great strength inside.

It really was a wonderful afternoon with friends and family celebrating our big 5 year old girl.