Spring Break

Day 1 and 2:

Saturday we took off after Don got off work and soccer was over.  We headed to Idaho to stay with Katie and Justin.  On Sunday we watched conference and spent time together. 

Day 3:

We headed out for Portland, OR taking out time along the way.

We stopped at Multnomah Falls on our way.  It was amazing and a really cool experience.

 Day 4:

Cannon Beach

The beach! I simply love it.  The sound of the water is so calming.  

It was Patten and Kayla's first time at a beach. Patten didn't care for the cold water or sand.  Kayla was upset that her pants got wet, but loved the sand.

Landon couldn't outrun the wave and got taken down shortly after we arrived. He says, "The wave was too fast."  He was really cold after that though and borrowed my jacket.

Ecola Stake Park

I was really hoping to be able to hike down to Cresent Beach but the trail was just too muddy.  It also started down pouring shortly after we returned from our attempted hike so the beach would have been a bust even if we had been able to hike down. 

Eldon brought flat Stanley with him on our trip, this is the first of several photos he took with him.

Tillamook

 Since the beach was rained out we headed down to Tillamook Cheese Factory.  This was a great learning experience for the kids and they really have amazing cheese. Each child got their own dairy item and Patten got a cup to remember his birthday.

 The boys also REALLY wanted to see a ghost town.  Oregon has several of them.  We found one that wouldn't be out of our way and planned to stop. Problem was however it no longer existed.  Bayocean was once a very popular town in 1914 but only a few decades later it would be washed away.  The towns steamships were having a hard time going against the current so they build a jetty to help.  This changed the currents pattern and it washed away the town.
Landon was really worried about the people that used to live in the ghost town. He was asking all kinds of questions about where they were now and asked if we should help them rebuild a town to live in.

Cape Meares

 

We did a short hike to see the octopus tree. 

Not sure if Eldon didn't want his picture or if I accidentally deleted it.

 After a very eventful day we stopped at Grumpy's for dinner. And because it was such an eventful day we decided to wait until the next day to get Patten's birthday treat.

 Day 5:

 Voodoo Doughnuts

We decided this would be Patten's birthday treat.  They were really good actually. Patten had Butterfinger (chocolate cake doughnut with frosting and butterfinger on top), Kayla had the Homer doughnut, Landon and Eldon got the Bubblegum doughnut, Bryson and Dad got the Grape Ape, Jaron got a caramel doughnut, I chose the peach fritter (DELICIOUS).  They were all really good.  The only one that wasn't the best was Jaron's.  We all shared and really enjoyed the treat!

Washington Park

We had talked about going to the zoo, but ended up just going to play at the park instead.  I think it was a great choice, the kids really had a good time.

 

Portland Temple

Miniture Golf

This really was the most beautiful place to miniature Golf.  The course was really nice too.

Day 6 and 7:

We headed back to Katie and Justin's.  Friday we headed home and stopped at Shoshone Falls Park in Twin Falls, ID on our way.  The falls are amazing this year!

Patten is 10, 11, and 12 months!

So life keeps throwing punches our way.  I was doing great being able to blog from my phone, finding time to actually sit at a computer has been more difficult. Here are the last three months worth of pictures.

10 Months

 11 Months

 12 Months

This little man spent his first birthday in Oregon.  We went to the beach, Tillamook Cheese Factory, & a lighthouse. 
He isn't officially walking yet but took his first few steps a few days before his birthday.
He also cut his 5th tooth on his birthday. With his 6th tooth following a few days later.  He got his bottom middle ones first, then his top two next, but they weren't the middle teeth on the tops they were the next ones over. So he cut is top middle teeth right around his birthday.
 He loves almost everything and still the happiest kid.  He enjoys watching sports with his daddy and cheering with him.   He claps at the end of prayers.  He sympathetically laughs when others are laughing. He loves to sing and bob to music. 
That goes right along with his musical heart. He has a still's murmur that is completely harmless.  When we were visiting with the cardiologist he described it as the blood rushing by his heart strings and making noise that sounds musical.  So he has music in his heart.
He likes to spit and babble the day away.  He says, "Mom," "Dada,", "Ba," and "Isit."  He also likes to point, touch things with his pointer, or stick his pointer finger in things. I think its his way of testing things out or drawing attention to what he wants others to see.