Fun in the Park

August 4th was Wilsonville's "Fun in the Park" Day.  The entire Towne Center Park was filled with booths, activities, jump houses, rides, etc., for the kids.  It was a record setting 102 degrees, but we braved the heat and had a great time.

 

Trying to stay cool in the shade.

Kylene's favorite part was definitely the pony rides.

 

While waiting in line for the pony rides for about 30 minutes, Skyler would not walk and was begging for me to hold him. (Which is very uncharacteristic of him.)  After the ride, I put him in the stroller and carried Andon as we decided where to go for lunch.  By the time we got to our car, he was completely lethargic.  Kyle suddenly realized he was in the beginning stages of heat stroke.  We hurried over to Wendy's, went in the air conditioning and started pumping him full of water and Frosty:).  He was very mellow for about an hour, but slowly started coming back to his normal self.  It was a little scary for a short time, but I'm glad we recognized it when we did.  After lunch, Kyle took Andon home for a nap while the rest of us stayed and continued to enjoy the festivities.  I thought maybe Skyler should go home and rest as well, but he would have none of that; he didn't want to miss out on any fun.  He even did his first rock wall climb!  I was impressed with how high he got!

 

My Parents, the Missionaries!

My parents, serving in Nagoya Japan, as the office couple, recently passed the six-months mark of their mission.  They are 1/3 completed!  They are loving it and doing a wonderful job.  Here are a couple of photos they recently sent.

This is from taking a couple of elders out to lunch.  They said they have yet to be turned down when they offer to treat missionaries to lunch.  :)

This is at Nagoya Castle.  My dad is wearing traditional Samurai warrior suit. With the helmet, it weighs about 45 pounds!

 

We miss them dearly but are so grateful for their service.  I love hearing my kids pray for them in every prayer.  I love that my kids know their grandparents are missionaries!

A Few Field Trips

I've tried to make each Wednesday this summer our "field trip" day.  Some weeks worked, some didn't, but we have done a lot of outings.  Here are three from July:

We spent a morning at Fir Point Farms in Canby.  It is a little farm with a few (run down) attractions for the kids, a nature hike, and a yummy sandwich shop that just opened.  Stephanie (cousin) had gone swimming with us the night before and then spent the night, so she joined us at the farm.  Andon has spent a lot of time in the backpack this summer and does great in it.  I never get over how cute he looks in his little sun hat (thanks, Wendy!).

Our friend, Megan (originally my mom and dad's friend, who became a family friend), has a good friend (how's that for confusing?) who has baby goats.  She invited us to come feed and pet them and we decided to take her up on it.  The kids did really well, especially Kylene, who loved holding them more than they loved being held:).  The kids even got to help name one of the babies, although I'm not sure if the owners were serious about keeping the name.  But the kids sure thought that was cool.

After visiting the goats, we continued the field trip to the Canby Ferry to ride across the Willamette, then went to play with the Clark cousin's in their beautiful new home in Canby, just minutes from the Ferry.  We are so excited for them!

This last picture is too cute not to include (of Andon, not me):

Another "field trip" was visiting Kyle's parent's.  They recently purchased a house boat that is docked at a marina near the Portland International Airport.  It is about a five minute walk from the parking lot down the dock to the house, and children have to be in life vests.  We went one Friday afternoon to see their great new "paradise" and look around the marina.  Kyle's mom bought this little cart to carry groceries, etc., to the house boat, so when we were walking around the marina, we stuck Andon in it so we didn't have to carry him the whole time.  He could stand up in it and loved the ride.  It was so darling!

Oh, What Fun!

July 28th was the annual Wilsonville Kiwanis "Kids Fun Run".  It was a beautiful, hot day.

Here are the kids getting ready for the race.  It was at Wilsonville High School.

Here is what daddy and Andon did while waiting for the races:).

Kylene got to run 1.5 laps.  She was nervous she wouldn't know anyone, but quickly found two friends with whom to wait and do her warm-up stretches.  But once the race start, she took off on her own and did a super job.  It was so fun to watch her long, blonde hair waving behind her in the wind!

Spencer did one lap.  He was very nervous and refused to participate when it was his turn to go down on the field.  Lucky mommy ended up getting to run with him at the last minute.  For the picture of him running, I ran ahead and told him to slow down so I could snap the picture:).  He ended up loving it (of course!) and was so proud of his medal at the end.

Skyler was our last runner--he did a speedy 100 yards.  It was darling to watch the 3 and under group--the youngest to run--"race" down the track.  Daddy ran with him.  I love the bottom, right picture of him running from behind.  He was timid about it, but definitely wanted to do it after watching so many other runners before him. 

 

There were booths and free give-aways all over.  The kids got so many little toys, popsicles, a free lunch, free breadsticks, water bottles, medals, etc.  You get the idea.   I can't believe what this town can pull together for the kids.  I love that it gets so many people out, engaged, and active.  It is definitely a community event.  It was fun to be a part of it. 

Thirsty?

 

Kylene and Lidya had a blast--and even made a profit--on their "Ice Cold Hawaiian Juice" stand last week.  (I guess it's easy to make a profit when the supplies are 100% donated and your family members are your most frequent customers!)  They had a few neighbors whom were extra thirsty as well.  Love the entrepreneurial juices!

Nine Years!

 

Thursday, August 2nd, Kyle and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary.  It is hard to believe it's been nine years!  (Especially after all those years we both wondered if we'd ever get married.) 

We enjoyed a fun day together.  Auntie Shayla and Ansley came over during the day and watched all the kids while Kyle & I went shopping, out to lunch, and to Moonstruck, our absolute favorite chocolate cafe'!  I was in heaven eating the milkshake.  It really is that good!  Shopping was awesome for me, and perhaps a bit boring for Kyle.  I got six darling new tops and two new pairs of shoes and Kyle, you ask?  Well, he got some quality phone surfing and newspaper reading time.  Oh, and, of course, he did some clothes consulting.  He said it was fun, and I definitely appreciated actual shopping time with no kids.

Later that evening, we had a darling newlywed couple (Kaylie & Dallas, who are in our ward until they go back to BYU in a few weeks) come over and babysit while we went out to dinner.  We decided to celebrate our anniversary and his new job by trying out "The Melting Pot" in Downtown Portland.  (We've talked about going there for at least five years.)  And it was definitely fancy, rich, and yummy.  With that and Moonstruck, we had our fair share of delicious chocolate for the day!  We chose the chocolate, marshmallow, and Oreo dessert dipper and it was a-ma-zing!  Then we came home and watched a movie together. 

It was a fabulous day together enjoying just that: being together.  I don't know where I would be without this incredible man in my life.  Oh, wait...I would be LOST!  He loves me and my children to pieces, works his heart out, and always keeps us smiling.  I look forward to many, many more amazing years together! 

Change

Change is good, right?  Hopefully it helps us stretch and grow.  Well, Kyle's job has been one of change (and stretching and growing) the last two+ years.  Here is a very brief summary.  He worked for LCW Wireless, a subsidiary of Cricket Communications since 2008.  In late 2010, it was acquired by Cricket Corporate, and thus began the (shall I say, not-so-good) change.  After about six months, Kyle knew he was eventually going to have to find something else.  In December 2011, he began actively looking for another job.  In April, 2012, he accepted a position with a mobile marketing company doing B2B sales and account management.  But since it was a 100% commission job, we weren't sure how it was going to go.  But, the time was right.  After a couple of months, we realized it wasn't going to work long term, and thus began the job hunt process again in earnest.  This past week, another change: an offer and acceptance with a job with DISH Network as an account manager.  He will start training on August 13th.  He is excited about the new opportunity and feels like he is coming "full circle" since he started out as an Independent Retailer with DISH almost 10 years ago.  Then he did account management for a DISH distributor.  And now, he will work directly with the company. 

So, this job has been a long time in coming, with countless hours in the job hunting process and lots of blood, sweat, and tears, so to speak.  Finding a new job is definitely work.  And emotionally draining.  But Kyle has been diligent in focusing on that end goal.  It has been overwhelming and exhausting at times but it has made us stronger and definitely brought us together as husband and wife.  And so I have to say I am thankful for the process and thankful for change.  I am thankful for how hard he works for our family and look forward to this new job/adventure alongside him!

Congratulations, honey!