10.26.11:
Date afternoon, on Brent's day off, while the older boys are in school.
Japanese garden.
The BEST time to go is in Autumn.
I LOVE the Japanese Garden SO.MUCH. I want it to be my backyard.
View from the Japanese Garden of downtown Portland and Mt. Hood
I love going to places that make me feel like I've traveled to a different country.
Under the wooded areas, a little mushroom hunt:
After the Japanese Garden,
The International Rose Test Garden...
Do roses still bloom at the end of October in the Rose City?
Yes they do!
After our date and we gather our children from the bus,
we spend an enjoyable afternoon at the Wooden Shoe Pumpkin Patch:
Superb autumn fun:
corn maze, hay maze, archery, bb shooting, train, hay ride, pumpkin cannon, lots of fun!!
Autumn can make me so happy. How about you?
Wheeeee-Hooooo! Am I EVER glad that is NOT me anymore.
(hot, hot, tired, sore, can barely walk...about to go into labor any day...yet I'm chillin' at the Pittock Mansion with the fam!)
Since the blog posts are flowing nicely in my mind, I thought that I would continue to catch up on some summer events that I missed.
Toby was too cute to not put this picture in...the kid in need of a haircut!
See, the grandparents came to town...and we took them to the Pittock Mansion, the Classical Chinese Garden and to Mt. St. Helens. Whew!
I just have to say...I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude today.
At times in the past year since I found out I was having another boy I have thought to myself "3 boys in my family?!? That's not how it was supposed to happen."
I was supposed to be one of those families with 2 boys and then a girl. And then another boy. I have always felt that. And when I found out Elsa was a girl, I expected that to be my life. I have to stop myself to remember that just because she died, it doesn't change that...2 boys, 1 girl and then another boy. But I've struggled with the thought of 3 boys. Not with each child individually, because I love them each fiercely! Just with the idea of 3 boys. It doesn't help that the world seems to frown down upon lots of little boys. People don't want to deal with the energy, I guess.
But lately I've been thinking about how Elsa died...about how nothing really happened that caused her to die. There was no accident or fall or breakage of anything other than her little umbilical vein. Just one little vein and life is over (for now). LIFE is really quite fragile and unpredictable. But it is also STRONG and consistent. But you never know which you're going to end up with. And so with that thought, my heart is won over. I will cherish every single energy-sucking moment with my boys. Because who knows how long we'll have it.
Oliver, oh my sweet Oliver. Today I was holding, squeezing and tickling him and he was squirming with joy and rumbling belly laughs. He is so soft and warm and round and squishy and ALIVE. He is the sweetness in my cookie life. I am SO lucky and joyous that he is here. And so I am not going to let anyone or anything distract me from that joy. No, not the passers-by who comment about my kids or ALL my boys. And for now I feel happy and content with 3 boys...but not just with 3 boys. I've got Joshua, Toby and Oliver on this earth. And this summer I'm going to romp and play like I haven't for 2 whole years!
I really wanted to say thanks to everyone who made an effort to let me know that they're still thinking about Elsa. Your words and kindnesses have touched me, just as they did in the beginning of my new life.
I know, I know. Christmas is over already, right? Well...I was just too gosh darn busy to post all of my Christmas stuff when it was Christmas. If I would've posted this a month ago, you all would've been looking at it with warmth and fondness. Now you're just ready to move on to Spring, right?
(I am). But hey, we made some good memories this year and I need to blog about 'em! So hang in there over my next few posts if you're already Christmased out for the year! But who could really be Christmased out, when the beauty of the Christmas message can stay with you the whole year?
Welcome to Peacock Lane!
since 1929
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| light show |
The End.
Joshua insisted that we watch the story of the first Thanksgiving. And Ollie had his first Thanksgiving. And I had my first Thanksgiving of my new life. A life in which I feel a hundredfold more grateful for everything with which I am blessed. A life in which I am learning to become a new me. The me that has collapsed into ashes and is rising again, even better than before.
We had a happy Thanksgiving week. We spent a lot of time with my family. My mom, my younger sister and her boyfriend flew into Portland to hang out with us and my two older sisters who live in Portland...and their families.
Some stuff we did:
Chinese Garden:
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| love, love, love the stonework in the garden |
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| Toby and Grandma |
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| it was cold, cold, cold, cold, cold. Record cold. |
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| The Flash will save us all! |
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry:
We had lots of fun with this crazy exhibit:
Brent?
Joshua
Oh that's just silly...I've never sat around with my family laughing for so long
That one on the left was a little difficult to deliver.
Toby
Auntie Heather
Grandma
Movies:
I dressed Ollie in his Christmas outfit...which also (unknowingly) happened to be the day of the BYU, University of Utah game. I guess Ollie was their good luck baby, eh?
But the adults went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1 (which I LOVED!), and Uncle Nate took the kids to see Megamind. (Thanks Uncle Nate!) I ended up taking Ollie with me and he did just fine. He never made a peep (hard to do that when you're eating :-).
Multnomah Falls:
Carlos and Heather
It gets dark really early around here these days...so I did my best dusk photography
(without the flash, because the flash lit up every water droplet in the air).
Hanging out:
We opened some Christmas gifts...since we won't all be together at Christmas time
(Heather and Carlos are going to Cancun to meet his family!)
OH JOY! Toby got his Rex.
Joshua LOVES books!
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| Nice! |
Carlos' hat and Heather's shirt
Someone likes the exersaucer SO much, he took a nap there!
It was a great time!
