10 Years!

Today, Peter and I celebrated 10 years of marriage!  I cannot adequately express how blessed I am to be married to this man.  If there was a "Best Husband" contest, he would win, and by a landslide.  We've been through a lot in our decade together, more than most couples face in a lifetime.  But, our faith in God and our commitment to one another has brought us through each obstacle.  Even though we promised each other to remain united "in sickness and in health", "for richer or poorer", "in good times and in bad", I don't think we expected to be inundated with the "bad" and "in sickness" and "for poorer" moreso than their counterparts.  Still, that's the road we are on, and we press on, together.  Our marriage is an incredible blessing and I wouldn't change anything if that meant that Peter wouldn't be by my side.  I look forward to more "good times", more "health", and being "richer" in faith and love and the blessings of our family and friends.

Originally, we had some big plans for this anniversary.  We were saving to go to Costa Rica for a week.  But, that money went to the Portland move, so we nixed the idea.  Then, we booked a couple nights in Seattle (since neither of us have ever been and we still wanted a little getaway) to celebrate.  But, finances at this time do not allow for that--our budget is very restricted.  So, we settled on a day/evening together while Peter's brother watched the kids.  During the day, we biked to the Willamette River and part of the Springwater Trail.  We ate a picnic lunch by the river and talked, laughed, took pictures, and enjoyed the beauty of this wonderful city.  Later that night, we went to downtown Portland and had dinner at a yummy fondue restaurant (not as good as La Fondue, but good), and then we came home and had some wine we'd been saving from one of our favorite wineries, Bargettos in Santa Cruz.  We had a wonderful day together, all within the parameters of this amazing city!

Some photos from our day (way more are on FB):

Before our bike ride to Sellwood Riverfront Park

At Sellwood Riverfront Park

On our way to dinner......

....FONDUE (Yummy!!!!)

10 YEARS!

Here is a slideshow from our wedding day, 10 years ago.


Thanks for traveling through life with me, Handsome.  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

She Lost A Tooth!

That's right!  Our girl finally lost that tooth that has been loose since APRIL! We had been trying to convince her for the past week to let us pull it out, but she adamantly refused, telling us that she wanted to wait until is "fell out".  But, last night, we sent her to brush her teeth before bed and a few minutes later she ran out of the bathroom and proclaimed, triumphantly, "I pulled out my tooth!" with a bloody grin.  What a brave girl!  Since we don't do the tooth fairy thing, we promptly gave her a quarter last night and then, this morning at the market, we let her pick out an ice cream treat.  She was so excited. She has another loose one, which we expect will be ready to come out in a few weeks.  Our big girl is growing up fast!

4th of July, Portland Style

What a beautiful day we had in Portland yesterday!  Its hard to stay inside when the weather is so nice, so we spent a lot of time outdoors throughout the day.  Fireworks start LATE in Portland because it doesn't get dark until after 10pm.  That means the kids would be up waaaaay past their bedtimes, so they both had 2 hours of rest time in the afternoon (Alayna even took a nap!).  Since Peter was working, it was up to me to decide how to spend the holiday.  In the end, we ended up taking the bus to the Hawthorne Bridge and watching the fireworks over the river (Willamette).  It was insanely crowded, and our view was obstructed by the bridge itself, but we still had fun.  (And, can I just say, it was really nice not to be sick or sweating while watching fireworks?  Well, it was AWESOME!)  Note to self--next year, get there early so we can sit on the lawn and have a view actually overlooking the River.

Hope you all had a great time celebrating as well!

Enjoying all-natural popsicles on the back porch!

Sparkler Fun!

 

Waiting for the show to start....

 

The pictures aren't great, but the fireworks were spectacular!

Discovering Portland: Children's Museum

I had been excited to check this place out, but had heard from a friend that our kids might be too old for it, so I put it on the back burner. Then, I heard from another friend that the first Friday of the month, from 4-8pm is free.  So, we decided to head over to the zoo (it's right next door, and we have a membersip) for a couple hours and then check it out.  I'm glad we did!  And I'm glad we didn't pay, because our kids really are a little too old for this place.  I say its ideal for 2-6 year olds.  There was a clay area and that is where the kids spent the most time.  It was cool just to go through and explore all the different activities.  They had fun, even if a lot of it was too "young" for them.  It was a great afternoon/evening (it was a beautiful day today--and night!  I am writing this blog on my back porch!).

The pics were taken with the cruddy camera on my phone, so they aren't great.  But here they are:

Light Play (This is called "Twilight Trail" actually.  Heehee!)

Fun with clay!

Making rockets!

Water area

Grocery/Restaurant area

Pet Doctor area

Yay for Free First Fridays!