Top 10 reasons Portland rocks!

1. Super cute neice and nephew live there

Since we moved from Portland in 2004 we have seen very little of Tanner and Renee. I really didn't know them and their personalities all that well. They are ADorable! Tanner is so animated and a great hip hop dancer- I don't know where he goes his soul from. Renee is such a princess, so sweet, and I love her great big smile.

2. Leslie lives there

When we lived in Portland Leslie and I were not the best of friends. In fact, we didn't really get a long at all. I think over the years we have changed and now we get a long just fine, pretty great actually. It was so nice hanging out and talking. I am so glad that I got the chance to build a friendship. She took fantastic care of us, and was very patient when we were lying around sick for 2 days. Thanks Leslie!
3. Jeramie lives there No picture of Jerm, but I have to give a shout out to him for staying up late into the night or early in the morning talking with us and playing games- even if you did get your butt kicked:) I'm sure it wasn't easy getting up every morning for work but I loved spending that time with you.

4. Cousins
The kids played so well together. It was fun to see the dynamic of who hit it off with who. Addy and Tanner were quite the pair, as was Ethan and Renee. It is amazing how long they can play together and not get bored. Paige loved Tanner, she would climb all over him and taunt him into chasing her. When we were at the airport and Addyson realized that we were leaving she sobbed and sobbed because she was going to miss her cousins.


5. The great outdoors
During the summer in Texas you just don't go outside unless you are swimming because it is so hot! In Oregon we were able to go to the park several times and the kids were able to go play outside without coming back in 2 minutes later from heat exhaustion. Addyson actually complained about being cold most of the time- she has certainly acclimated to Texas.

6. Friends

Although most of our friends have moved on to other places we still have some good friends that still reside in Oregon and even some who have recently moved to the area. I was able to meet up with my friend Roy and his wife for dinner one night in Vancouver. Roy was a good friend from my single days, so it was a bit wierd seeing him after 8 years and 3 kids later but he is still the same great guy I remember with a rad wife and kids. Thanks again for having us. I was also able to meet up with my Sarah. We went through some pretty significant times together and I love her to death. Addyson and her son Gavin used to be the best of friends, too bad they don't remember that.

We went to the zoo and the kids got a long superb

Then my camera battery ran out, so I didn't get to take pictures of the Portland zoo- rats!

Elizabeth, we were bummed that we got sick and weren't able to get together- it would have been great to see you.

7. Beauty all around

Oregon is beautiful, we don't have trees and landscape like that in Texas.

We took the kids to the Rose Gardens and although the kids were more interested in the fountain, it is always nice to look across the rows and rows of roses and enjoy.

Paige smelling the roses

8. The Beach(even if it is friggin cold)

We drove out to Canon Beach on Saturday and once we got close, I knew that it wasn't going to be a great day to go- but oh well we made the drive. We had lunch at the park and it was a little chilly but still comfortable, then once we hit the beach it was freezing and of course so windy. The kids had fun for like 8 minutes and then they were done!

Paige eating sand

Renee, Addyson, and Tanner(Ethan likes to do his own thing)

Notice how happy they look...............

Having fun, enjoying the water..................

Still having fun.............................
now look down and notice how miserable she is.

Suddenly she got cold and was not very happy!

Picture with my bro Jeramie

One with Leslie

9. Culture

It is always interesting walking down the street in Portland because there are some pretty interesting people. I was so bummed because my camera battery died right before I saw this ginormous group of punk/emo kids, I'm talking like 50 of them all crowding around. You could see security covering all corners and just hovering. One mom said to her little kids "hey check out the freaks!" the funny thing is those kids had 2 moms, if you know what I mean.(Disclaimer: I am not calling homosexuals freaks, I am only emphasizing the "culture" of Portland- no where else, other than San Fransisco have I seen such a large population of them.)
10. Jewelry

My sister-in-law is the bomb at making jewelry and she is oh so generous too. She taught me some of her skillz and I got to take home some pretty sweet jewelry. Addyson even got in on some of the fun, she was proud of her necklace and bracelet. Thanks again Leslie.

It wasn't the easiest place to get to or leave but I am so glad that I went. We really had the best time and enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks again Jeramie and Leslie for taking care of us welcoming us into your home.

I made it....by the skin of my teeth, I made it!

I made it to Portland- woo hoo! I decided to head down to the airport earlier last week to try to increase my chances of getting on a flight and we had a fun filled day at the DFW airport. I got to the gate for the 4:45 flight and can you guess how many people were trying to fly standby to Portland? THIRTY-FIVE PEOPLE!!! I was not too hopeful, buy hey I was there I may as well try. The kids played in the play area and then we were off to the next gate to try for the6:30 flight. We had to hop on the train to get there, but my kids didn't want to get off and since we had some extra time we decided to stay on and ride it allllllll the way around. At one point we were the only people in the train except for a small Asian family and my kids are getting pretty crazy as they often do. A lady gets on the train talking on her cell phone and starts talking to the person on the other end saying "Where are these children's parents, does anyone watch their kids anymore, we are not outside- I can't believe this!" Obviously, I am "these children's" mother since they are not of asian decent, so I smile at her and say "Addyson and Ethan, someone is having a bad day could you please calm down." And, of course they didn't but at least I didn't look like I don't watch my kids right, I tried:)
We didn't get on the 6:30 flight but were bumped up to #3,4, & 5 so I was stoked. Dave picked us up before the 9:30 flight and we went to dinner at Olive Garden- thanks Dave for picking up the tab on that one. We headed back to the airport and I sat and waited and waited for them to call my name and then the I noticed that the cleared list had a whole bunch of names on it and mine was not. I was worried, what happened? A couple of minutes later I heard a page for Wendy Lee to get her tickets at the gate and I head over rather quickly and the lady looks at me like, what? I say "Wendy Lee, you just called my name?" She said, "I called your name a long time ago, several times and you never responded so I passed you up and gave the seats away." I was almost in tears, I was there the whole time and I never heard my name called. Then she proceeds to say that I was lucky, she was giving me the last 3 seats on the plane but we would not be sitting together. Whew, I about had a heart attack! Addy was a little freaked that she wouldn't be sitting close to me and I was afraid she might have a breakdown, but was relieved when I looked at who she would be sitting by, this super sweet lady that was sitting by us while we waited at the gate. When Addyson saw her she instantly calmed down and sat in her seat. Her name was Kelly and she was a 2nd grade teacher- she was wonderful with Addyson, she even gave her a stuffed animal of hers that some friends had given her for her birthday 2 days earlier. Ethan and I ended up being able to sit together and we had a great a flight, the kids were very sleepy! I had a fantastic time in Oregon and am so glad that I was able to go. Hopefully this weekend I will post pictures and details.

I am still here

This is just how I feel here in Texas!

The worst part is that I am supposed to be in Portland, OR right now enjoying their not so hot summer weather, when instead I am sitting at home on my computer blogging about how I SHOULD be there(sniff, sniff). You may remember last year when I tried to take this same exact trip, you can read about it HERE, we were so bummed!  The flight last night was supposed to be the one, there were like 15 open seats and there were even a couple of earlier flights that had a lot of open seats so I thought it was gonna be just fine.  But Noooooooo, people start coming out of the woodworks, how does that happen?  Who just randomly decides, hey, lets go to Portland- wouldn't that be fun to pay like $700 for a last minute flight?  Anyway, I am just hanging out watching the flights, waiting for the right time to drive out there and give it a try.  Think good thoughts people, think good thoughts!

Ahhhh, downtown Portland and the waterfront.........

Ahhhh, Canon Beach- Goonies(BTW one of the best movies ever)!!!!

Ahhhh, waterfalls.........

Hopefully I will be seeing this from an airplane soon!

My girls

I am playing catch-up a little bit with all of these photos. I wanted to post them for my family because I am a slacker and I have not sent pictures out yet- I have had them for 2 months! These are Paige's 1 year pictures that I had done at JCPenney. I was so worried that she wouldn't cooperate and take any good pictures but she was so much fun and there were a lot to choose from.

Babies are the absolute cutest at this age, I am loving it!

Addyson had an end of season soccer party in the beginning of June. All of the girls went to Libby Lu and got makeovers and then went to Picture People and got their pictures taken. All of the girls had such a good time together. I am so glad that she has some great girls on her team!

The Lil' Divas with Coach Lance.

Unfortunately Coach Lance has had about enough 6-7 year old girl drama he can take and has decided not to coach for the 3rd year. However, his wife Marianne is gonna take over so we are excited to be able to keep the team together as long as we can.

Breakfast for dinner

I love me some breakfast! So what is better than breakfast for breakfast? Breakfast for dinner! Dave and I are not in aliance with the breakfast for dinner idea, he is never really enthusiastic about it. Monday night Dave was in Mexico City for work and what did I make for dinner? You guessed it, Breakfast! I got this great idea for a fun spin on breakfast from HERE. The kids looooved it. Not only did it taste yummy but it was a lot of fun for them to create their own concoctions in their pancake cups. They ate more than I have seen them eat for a long time.
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Ethan wanted to take a picture of what he created.

The Lee Family Reunion- all 44 of us!

We are back from Canada, it was pretty hard to leave! 8 days still wasn't enough time be away from work, responsibility, and good ole Texas heat and scenery. It was an amazing trip, we loved every minute of it. We weren't able to fly out on the 4th because the flight filled up at the last minute but we were able to get out on the 5th quite easily. We spent Saturday and 1/2 of Sunday in Calgary and then we headed off to British Columbia to Lake Shuswap to check into our wonderful cabin. All of Dave's 13 siblings, 2 brother-in-laws, 5 sister-in-laws, 9 nephews, 9 neices, 1 mom and dad, and 1 grandma were there- basically a whole lotta people!

My sister in law Rebecca got special Lee Family Reunion shirts made for everyone, thanks Bec they looked great!
Our view from the deck of the cabin, it was so nice to go out on one of the many patios and just enjoy the mountains, the lake, the green grass and trees, and the perfect weather.

The patio was decked out with hammocks and swings galore- Paige loved the dolphin swing.


(Ethan sword fighting with Spencer and Ben)
Ethan loved having boys around to play with, he doesn't get that much at home. I have never seen him wrestle and playing rough as I did last week, it was fun to watch!


(Addyson, McKenna, Kayla, Amber, Desiree, Salina, and Charity)
There are a ton of girls around Addyson's age, so she also had a great time playing with her cousins. They would wake up in the morning, have their breakfast and disappear for hours.

I love this picture!

And this one.

We were lucky enough to be able to use Dave's brothers family boat while we were there. We all had the oppurtunity to ski, wakeboard and do some tubing as well. I have only had the chance to attempt skiing like twice in my life so I was excited to give it another try. Too bad I am such a looser and couldn't get up- dagnabit! I have excuses though! I did get plenty of tubing in, always a blast.

Because there were so many people staying in the house and we didn't want to overload the septic tank we were supposed to bath in the lake. That was pretty hard to do because the water was cold, so I just hopped on the tube and held on for dear life while the driver did their best to dump me. Once I got dumped I washed up and was good to go.

(Addy, Kayla, and Salina- crazy girls)
All week I was working on Addyson, convincing her to try tubing and she stood her ground said NO WAY! Mid-week some of my brothers-in-law rented a couple of jetskis and I conned her into riding with me. After her ride on the jetski, she had a need for speed and was begging to try tubing. She couldn't get enough. I am so glad that she tried it because it always makes me so sad when she misses an opportunity out of fear- besides I aint raising no wussies! Ethan, didn't try the tube but not out of fear, he just had no desire to get in that cold water! I told Dave that we had to get a good family photo while we were on vacation and this what I got, not really what I had in mind but oh well.

We visited a couple of local farms while we were there. The kids were able to see how cheese was made and check out all of the livestock.

Ethan feeding the llama

Paige getting a little freaked out by the hungry horse

We were inspired by the movie"Dan in Real Life" and decided to have a family talent show. Dave showed off his gift of singing Karaoke and Paige was his backup dancer. The girl loves to dance! Addyson showed off her Yoga moves and Ethan told some jokes. It turned out to be a great idea and a lot of fun- good job Steve and Mabel!

We took advantage of a not so great day on the lake day and went to a cute little place called Enchanted Forest where an old couple carved and built fairytale figurines and houses. It was pretty cold and wet but the kids loved climbing through all of the houses.

I told Paige to give the big bad wolfe a hug but she decided to give him a kiss

Ethan just hanging out

On top of a huge treehouse

There are so many more pictures that I could post but I am trying to contain myself. We had such an awesome time and are so grateful that we could have the opportunity to make it to Canada, it has been a while. I am grateful that the kids had a chance to spend time with and get to know their cousins and that I could get to know some of Dave's sibling and their families and little bit better. I love family time. A big fat thanks to Jenn and Joyce for making it all happen!

The best day ever!

So, for those of you that have kids you may be familiar with an episode of Spongebob Squarepants called "The Best Day Ever" where SpongeBob thinks that he is going to have the best day ever and his day starts out by going to the Krusty Krab. The Krusty Krab is closed, so he goes to Sandy's house. Sandy's dome is leaking, so she can't do karate with SpongeBob. He goes to Jellyfish Fields with Patrick, but Patrick breaks his net and has to borrow SpongeBob's. SpongeBob ends the day by going to Squidward's clarinet recital. SpongeBob forgets his ticket and finally gets in at the end of the show. Squidward and the others notice SpongeBob is sad and they put on another show for him. You can watch the video HERE

My kids have seen this episode probably one too many times and in the show SpongeBob sings a little tune to The best day ever! When my kids have a really fun day they will sing this little song. When they are having a bad day or if something bad happens they will sing the words "The Worst day ever."

I found myself singing the little tune of the worst day ever just about an hour ago.

As many of you know I have been working a ton this last month. I have been saving up for some away time with Dave and getting very little sleep and quite stressed out. Tomorrow I am leaving for a 10 vacation to Canada where we will be hidden up in a cabin on a lake in the mountains- I will not mention there will be about 50 other people in that cabin, I am trying not to think about that part. Anyway, I have been so excited because a vacation is what I NEED! So, it is my last night at the hospital before we fly out and it is(excuse my language)Hell! The minute that I walk through the hospital doors, many of the lights go out. The ER is packed and most of the computers don't work, along with the fax/copier. Our ER is paperless, meaning everything is done on computers- all charting, labs, radiology etc. We have had Medhost go down many times before and there is backup for such a case but not the whole computer!Not only is most of our electricity out, but we have like 5 admits at one time, a full waiting room and our assigned medicine Dr. for the night isn't admitting and we don't have anyone to admit these patients. Anyway, I won't go into how fun that 2 1/2 hours was until they got the electricity up and working, but I wanted to walk right out those doors, drive home, and crawl into bed! I just kept hearing that tune in my head "This is the Worst Day Everrrrr."

I am so excited for tomorrow when I will hopefully be singing "This is the Best Day Ever" on my way to Canada for some good ol' family time!

BTW- if you see on the news tomorrow about an intoxicated man in a hospital robe who was hit by a car running in the streets, I am so not responsible!

Have a Happy 4th of July and I hope that all of you will be singing "This is the Best Day Ever."

I hope that it is full of awesomenimity!

Oh, and be careful with the fireworks guys, don't be like this kid that just walked in with a roman candle in his eye!

My mom's wedding

I am finally able to post pictures from my Mom's wedding last weekend, thanks Erin! My mom did a great job decorating and planning, it was really beautiful. Congradulations on your marriage and I hope that you two will be very happy together. I love you tons!

The beautiful Bride

Mom and I

Ken, Kevin, and I walking down the isle. With the Peterson family there is always laughs. We didn't have a rehearsal so it was hilarious when we walked down the isle. We were weaving and squeezing through chairs and tables that were set up on the other end of the room, but we made it to the end. The funniest part is my mom and older brother Jeramie took the same route we did. Anyway, it made us laugh!

Mr. & Mrs. Cameron cutting the cake

The grandkids on the Peterson side

The fam

A whole new fam!

Congrats on your marriage!