And finally...the rest of May

That same afternoon of Lydia's field trip, I got to get away for a girl's weekend with some friends from my ward. We all chipped in and rented a house in Manzanita, just a little past Cannon Beach. Unfortuneatly, the weather was still a little chilly, but it was still a lot of fun to hang out with such fun people. We got to the beach around 4:30 or so and then ate dinner, courtesy of the fabulous Rockelle. She made a yummy dinner for everyone...I think she really likes to cook.

Shelley, Leslie, Mindy, Sydette, Robyn, Beth and Jessie

Holly, Beth, Olivia, Rockelle, Mindy, Shelley, Leslie, Sydette,
(bottom row) Suki, Kate and Robyn

Then we took a stroll on the beach, then came back and talked, played games, snacked on desserts and stayed up WAY too late! The next morning came way too early! I don't like mornings as it is. But, since we had to be out of the house by 11 and there were 12 women that had to get ready, we had to get up and at'em. After breakfast, we went shopping in the little town of Manzanita and then had lunch at this yummy pub. Some of us had to leave by then, but the rest of us drove down to Tillamook for squeaky cheese and ice cream, then headed home.

All of us shopping in Manzanita

On the 27th, Intel had a night where the employees got a cheap rate to go to a kids science museum in Portland called OMSI. We were all going to go, but it was going to be too late of a night for Noah, so he and I stayed home and Garrett took the girls. They had a fun time. I think we've only been one other time and that was when Maggie was a baby. We need to get out more!

The next night, there was a Stake Temple Night, and since it's been ages since Garrett and I had been to the temple, we decided we had better go. We rode there with our good friends, Aaron and Terri and then went out to dinner after. It was a nice night out.

The 30th was Memorial Day. We didn't do anything grand or exciting. In the morning, we had a picture appointment for Maggie's and Bella's birthday pictures. (Yes, I'm usually a month or more late in getting pictures taken.) Maggie's turned out really cute. Bella, on the other hand was very excited about picking out what dress she wanted to wear and to get her hair fixed cute, but she wanted NOTHING to do with getting her picture taken when we got there. She wouldn't have anything to do with it. So, we walked away with no pictures of her.

I think I'll try it again when I go to get Noah's one year pictures taken. She can be so stubborn sometimes. :) We did a little shopping after that and then came home to enjoy the sunny day. We played outside and jumped on the trampoline--even me. It was a lot of fun. And the girls got a kick out of watching me jump. I'm sure I was quite the sight! Then when we were getting ready to bbq, it started raining. It didn't rain too long, so we were able to finish cooking our food, but then ate inside. It was a nice relaxing weekend anyways.

We were trying to get a picture of Noah and his curly locks. It's funny that of all my kids, he's the one that's getting curly hair. I guess we'll see what happens when I trim it for the first time.

One last picture of Bella...doing one of her favorite things...puzzles!

And that was May.

My Get-Away

This past week, I was able to go and visit my sister Megan and her cute little family. She just had her second child on the 10th of October. So, I took Bella and flew out to see them. My mom was also there, helping out. It was so fun to see Megan and her husband, Steve again. It had been about a year since I had seen them last. They have a little boy named Colin who is 2 1/2 and they just had a little girl, named Cora. They are both adorable little kids and I was so glad to be able to get to know them better.

Here is sweet baby Cora:

She really liked sucking on her thumb. Too bad it covered her face!

And this is cute Colin:

We didn't do a lot while I was there. Just being able to hang out and talk and work on some sewing projects was heaven for me, though. We did go to a pumpkin patch one day, and we went out to eat a few times.

Megan, Cora (under the blanket), Colin and Steve at the pumpkin patch

Colin loved the little maze...




My mom and Megan

Colin found a cute little pumpkin, just the right size.

So many pumpkins...

Me and Bella on the hay ride

Sweet baby Bella

Megan also took us to a really neat Halloween store that has a lot of the department 56 villages that my mom and sisters and I like to collect. I bought a fun piece to go with my carnival. It's called Swinging Ghoulies. It's so cute!!

We also looked through all of Megan's old photo albums which was fun to reminisce about. Steve was great--he made us Indian food for dinner one night, and he also made us a pumpkin pie--it was really good!

I don't think he wanted his picture taken, but I think the smirk is great!

We watched some good movies, too. We watched a really old version of Rebecca, a book by Daphne du Maurier. It had Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine in it. There's supposed to be another version of the movie, but I have only seen this one. It's pretty good. The book is great, too.
We also watched Jane Eyre. I love this movie, but still haven't read the book. It's on my list of books to read. The best version of this movie is the one with Toby Stephens. I love him as Mr. Rochester.

Last of all, we watched a movie that my mom recommended. It was called the Great Debators with Denzel Washington. It was a good movie, too.

Here are a few other pictures:

Megan, Steve and Cora

Megan and snuggly Cora



Megan, Cora, me and Bella

Me and Cora

My mom

Bella and Cora--6 months apart. Two cuties.

I just wanted to thank all those people who watched my kids while I was gone. It was so nice to know that my kids were being taken care of by good people that I knew I could trust. Thank you for your help!

And thanks to Garrett for watching the girls all week on top of working and scouts, etc. Thanks for supporting me and understanding my need to "get away"!

And, last of all, thanks to Steve and Megs for letting me crash at your place!! It was fun!